Good morning my ‘Walking with Jesus’ friends, all over the world.
Each person ever conceived is unique from all other humans, but none has ever been more unique than Jesus, the God man, do you agree? As John nears the end of his first letter, he calls us to consider the power of the uniqueness of Jesus in a world engulfed in confusion, deception, deceit and even rejection of God. Join me again, my friends, as John rolls out his parchment and picks up his stylus, writing in 1 John 5… “Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the person who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. This is the One who came by water and blood – Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only but by water and blood.” (1 John 5:6) John is telling us there is overcoming power available to you and me in Jesus because of WHO Jesus uniquely is… there is no one else like HIM, do you agree!!
The question: WHO is Jesus Christ, has been debated in courtrooms and books, palaces and churches for centuries. Do you see John’s clear declaration? John proclaims that Jesus is the Son of God.
Do you believe that? What does it mean? Almost always when the word “son” is applied to a person it means two things: That person is a male and that person is the biological, reproductive, product of a human man and a human woman, who have experienced the normal human conception, fetus, pregnancy process, isn’t that right? So how does that apply to Jesus?
The Bible has four New Testament books which tell the story of Jesus and His earthly life: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Luke and Matthew give us the accounts of the conception and birth of Jesus. Those accounts help us understand Jesus is uniquely both God and man at the same time. Jesus did experience the normal conception, pregnancy, birth and helpless infancy of a human baby, but with one major exception: the Holy Spirit of God impregnated Mary, not Joseph or any other human man, according to Luke 1:31-35 & Matt. 1:20. Thus Jesus is God in a human body without a sin nature inherited from a human father, but with all the normal human attributes and characteristics inherited from a human mother’s pregnancy experience.Other names were attributed to Jesus which expand our understanding of His identity and His role in human history. In Matthew 9:27 we find a blind man calling out to Jesus: “Have mercy on me Son of David!” The blind man was referring to the family lineage of Jesus traceable back to King David, which, as you may recall, was the reason Joseph and Mary went to Bethlehem to register for a census. (Luke 2:4-7)
One name Jesus often used in describing Himself was “the Son of Man”. On one occasion when Jesus and Jewish religious leaders were debating His identity, Jesus gave a brief forward look to His death and resurrection by linking it to a very familiar story in the old Jewish Scriptures… Jonah. Jesus said: “As Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” (Matt. 12:40) You’ll notice both the words ‘Son‘ and ‘Man‘ are capitalized when Jesus used that phrase. Why? Because whenever the identity ‘Son of God’ is attributed to Jesus, ‘Son‘ is always capitalized because it identifies Jesus is deity, God the Son! And the capitalized word ‘Man‘ suggests Jesus is the ultimate human being… the only species of beings made in God’s image. God testifies that Jesus was fully God and fully man.
Matthew explained Mary’s pregnancy using the title “Immanuel” for Jesus, which means “God with us”. (Matt. 1:23) And Jesus many, many times referred to Almighty God as “My Father.” On one occasion Jesus said, “I and the Father are one.” (John 10:30) It was very important to John and all the apostles that there be no confusion, no misunderstanding about the identity of Jesus the Christ, the Son of God, the only Savior of the world, and John made that clear, as he wrote: “God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.“ (1 John 5:11,12) Do you hear that true life now and eternal life forever is a significant distinction between those who have an authentic relationship with Jesus the Son of God and those who don’t?
John’s phrase “This is the One who came by water and blood – Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only but by water and blood.” (1 John 5:6), helps us see two important things about unique Jesus that make Him very relevant to our world then and now. The human birth experience is initiated by a flow of water from the birth canal, and after birth, cutting of the life sustaining, blood filled, umbilical cord. Baby Jesus had that normal birth experience as He, the Son of God, came into our world.
But the day John the Baptist identified Jesus as Messiah and baptized Jesus in the Jordan river water began the earthly ministry and redemption mission for which Jesus had come to earth! As Jesus came up out of the water God’s voice from heaven declared: “This is My Son, whom I love, with Him I am well pleased”, and the Holy Spirit of God lighted on Jesus in the form of a dove. (Matt. 3:13-17) John wants us to see the significance of water both in the birth of Jesus, like every other human person, but also in the baptism of Jesus which is different from the baptism of any other person, for in that water experience God the Father and God the Holy Spirit both identified Jesus as “Immanuel”, the God-man, here on earth for a very special, unique and powerful mission… the redemption of our sinful humanity! Jesus concluded His earthly redemption mission through His death on the cross, and specifically the shedding of His blood as the atonement death sacrifice required for God to forgive our sin. The Roman centurion executioner at that moment of death exclaimed: “Surely He was the Son of God.” (Matt. 27:54) So John, the apostle, wants us to understand the water and the blood BOTH testify to the uniqueness of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and that God’s redemption of mankind is ONLY possible in Jesus! Nothing can wash away our sin but the blood of Jesus, because of the uniqueness of who Jesus is, do you agree my friends? Do you testify to the truthfulness of these statements today, that Jesus is the Son of God, uniquely fully God and fully man? Do you celebrate the life changing significance of these truths, and have you experienced them? Here’s a song to help us celebrate these great realities, my friends…
Today’s Scripture is 1 John 5:6, 7, 11, 12.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
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Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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